Kit Brooks is preparing his second draft of horses under his own banner to offer at the Nov. 16-17 New Zealand Bloodstock Ready to Run Sale, but there are still several novelties for the horseman about this year's event, with it being the first live auction following the online format the sale took 12 months ago.
Restrictions due to COVID-19 saw the usually vibrant Karaka sale ground left vacant as the decision was taken to stage the catalog for last year's sale through NZB's online platform, with Brooks' KB Bloodstock operation selling eight of their 12 lots offered to a high of NZB$180,000 (US$110,036).
Brooks, an international polo player and long-time breaker of horses, has prepared an extended 17-horse draft under his KB Bloodstock operation following the success of his maiden appearance and, while the work on the ground for him and his team has been far more frenzied as they commence on-site inspections, he is relishing the presence of a bustling international buying bench at Karaka.
"We're pretty happy (with our draft)," Brooks told ANZ Bloodstock News. "Last year was our first year and the sale, unfortunately, ended up being an online one. So this is our first year actually being here at Karaka with all the horses.
"We've got some nice horses, and it'll be exciting to have everyone come to New Zealand for the sale.
"It's our first year parading and since we started, we've been flat out all day. So it's been really good. There's been plenty of people looking at the horses. The first year at the sales there were a few nerves, but we're all pretty relaxed now in our crew. We've taken everything in our stride and done the hard work, so we're ready to go."
The confidence of Brooks heading into this year's spectacle isn't merely exuded from the experience gained from the success of his first draft, out of which has derived exciting maiden winner Pungo and the group 2-placed Mojo Risin, a son of Deep Field, but also in the quality on offer from his offering, that have benefited from multiple pedigree upgrades in recent months.
The Penfolds Victoria Derby (G1), held just over a fortnight ago, resulted in a major boost for two of Brooks' offerings, with the Cambridge-based horseman not only set to offer a colt by Almanzor—the same sire as the race's winner Manzoice—but also the half sister to Manzoice by Shooting To Win.
Trusted to Brooks by South Island breeder and long-time client Stephanie Hole, the filly out of group 3 winner Choice is one of two fillies bred by Hole to form part of the KB Bloodstock draft, with Brooks also presenting the only lot on offer by Vinery Stud's late stallion More Than Ready.
"The Shooting To Win filly naturally jumps to the top of the list after Manzoice had that win the other day, but she's a lovely filly. She's very exciting for us," Brooks said.
Cataloged as Lot 57, the filly is the fourth foal out of Choice, who has a yearling filly by Too Darn Hot.
The More Than Ready filly out of Benatina (Lot 25) derives from one of the most potent families in the Stud Book, appearing under her fourth dam are group 1 winners Triscay, La Baraka, Alizee, and Astern. She, too, has also benefited from a notable upgrade, being from the same family as Darley Maribyrnong Trial Stakes winner Zulfiqar.
The pair were the fastest two fillies at the breeze-up session, held Oct. 17 and 18 at Te Rapa, the daughter of Shooting To Win posting a time of :10.31 for her 200-meter hit-out, while the More Than Ready filly was just one-hundredth of a second slower.
"Stephanie Hole is a fantastic breeder; we've got some beautiful fillies from her. They've both breezed up really nicely and had some nice pedigree updates," Brooks said.
The colt by Almanzor, who is out of British-bred mare Shower of Roses, is one of five 2-year-olds to be offered for sale, having been sourced by Brooks as yearlings.
Operating under his Brooks Farm banner, Brooks paid NZB$150,000 ($102,072) for the son of the Cambridge Stud-based stallion Almanzor. Cataloged as Lot 267, the colt by Almanzor stopped the clock at :11.15 for his breeze up.
"The Almanzor colt is right up there, there's plenty to pick from, and we're quite lucky with the horses we have in our draft," Brooks said.
"There were four of our own (horses) last year and this year there's five. We've upped the ante this year with what we've bought. There are four colts and a gelding, who's a nice horse too."
Brooks reserved special mention for his colt out of listed winner Volcada by Zoustar, one of two colts by the Widden Stud stallion in the Ready to Run Sale.
He will also present a brother to group 2 winner Shamus, a horse who was himself prepared by Brooks for the 2020 2-year-old sale at Karaka, where he went through the Woburn Farm draft, selling for NZB$85,000 ($58,848), and a colt by Charm Spirit out of a half sister to Sleepyhead New Zealand Derby (G1) winner Hades, who under the name Helene Vitality, also had notable success in Hong Kong. Cataloged as Lot 129, he ran the fastest time at the breeze ups within the KB Thoroughbreds draft, clocking :10.21 for his split.
"The Zoustar is a lovely colt and probably my pick of the bunch, but we've got a couple of nice ones," Brooks said.
"The brother to Shamus is very good too. He's lovely. He's a bigger horse, but he's really pushed on and breezed up fantastic and I think he's going to be a useful horse himself.
The move to offer his own breeze up draft was a 'logical progression,' according to Brooks, whose experience as a New Zealand polo player and former showjumper equipped him with the horsemanship skills that have helped him transfer into the world of thoroughbreds.
"We're trying to grow our brand and get some better quality horses (to prepare)," Brooks said.
"I've always been involved with racing, but the polo and showjumping offer you lots of different aspects of how to deal with horses.
"We broke in Savvy Coup, Madison County, and White Noise more recently. We love breaking in horses and it's very enjoyable seeing the ones that we've broken in go and be successful, but we wanted to grow the business and from there this was the next logical step. It all just grew itself and went from there really."
Among the graduates of last year's draft is maiden winner Pungo, an NZB$180,000 sale, who is gaining a cult following, less so for his success on the track, but rather his celebrity ownership group, which includes New Zealand cricket legend Brendan McCullum and All Blacks rugby stars Beauden Barrett and Israel Dagg.
The Chris Waller-trained 3-year-old, who finished fifth in the Network 10 Carbine Club Stakes (G3) during the spring, was bred by another good client of Brooks in Jomara Bloodstock, run by the Carter siblings of John, Mark, and Racheal and whose colors were most recently worn by Verry Elleegant during her European stint.
"Pungo is pretty exciting for us. It's pretty cool having the people involved in racing him, but he was a really nice horse," Brooks said.
The two-day New Zealand Bloodstock Ready to Run Sale gets underway Nov. 16 at 11 a.m. local time.
